Effective January 1, 2007, landlords are required to provide tenants a 60-day eviction notice in most cases in California.. This law, passed by the state legislature as Assembly Bill 1169, requires that tenants who have resided in their unit for more than one year be allowed 60, as opposed to 30, days to vacate their apartment when evicted through no fault of their own (a “no fault” eviction).

A “no fault” eviction means that the tenant’s lease is terminated not because the tenant breached the lease, but rather because the lease term has expired and the landlord does not wish to renew it. In places without rent control, the landlord is free to terminate the tenancy upon lease expiration provided that the owner is not discriminating against the tenant for unlawful reasons such as the tenant’s race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or national origin. However, in cities that have rent control, a no fault eviction must also be expressly permitted by the rent law; as such, no fault evictions are generally limited to owner/relative move-ins, removal of illegal units, substantial rehabilitations, sale of condominium units and, for a temporary displacement of tenants with the right to return, lead abatement or capital improvement work to the unit.

“Fault” evictions are governed by a separate statute requiring the tenant to vacate after three days if the breach is not cured or, in some instances, without any opportunity to cure. In California, fault evictions include nonpayment of rent, breach of a lease covenant, commission of waste and/or nuisance, or using the dwelling for an illegal purpose.
With the passage of this law, landlords serving notice for no fault evictions on tenants of more than one year must comply with the 60-day notice requirement. Like its predecessor, this bill expires in three years unless renewed. It also does not apply to tenancies that have existed for less than one year when the eviction notice is served; in those instances, the traditional 30-day notice is still available.

However, AB 1169 goes further than the previous 60-day notice law and states that the 60-day requirement shall not apply if any tenant or resident has resided in the unit for less than one year.

The other exception contained in this bill is an exemption for single-family homes or condominiums that are being sold to natural persons for owner-occupancy. If notice is given less than 120 days after escrow has been opened, the historic 30-day notice is allowed.